Knight in Shining Armor
by Culumacilinte
Summary: Claire reflects about Charlie and what he means to her. Set during "Raised by Another"


Knight in Shining Armor

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Lost. Or, alas anybody in Lost (read: Charlie and Sayid). However, I can manipulate them into doing all sorts of lovely juicy things, muahahah! I shall try to return them as good as new, but I make no guarantees.

A/N: This is my first attempt at a Lost fanfic, and I'm not sure how well it'll turn out. But hey- read on, all you C/C shippers, tell me whatcha think, as I am venturing out of my area of expertise here. Hannon le.

Claire sat on a grassy sward in the middle of the jungle, waiting for Charlie to return.

"Ohgod-"

She gasped, clutching her swollen belly, and waited for the lancing pains to subside.

"He's coming, he's coming, he's coming, it's ok, he's coming."

Oddly enough, when she said this, she meant Charlie, not Jack, the trained physician, the medical expert. Somehow, she felt Charlie could help her more than Jack, distant, generically friendly, always-the-hero Jack. Sure, he was nice enough, but she had never been comfortable around doctors, and Jack, for all they were stranded on a deserted island, was still a doctor, and acted accordingly. Charlie though…

Charlie was scuzzy and high-strung, obviously a rocker, with all that entailed. He was fairly tactless, couldn't cook if his life depended on it, and, well…

But Charlie, out of all the survivors, was the only one who talked to her, and got her water, and was concerned about her because he liked her. Everyone else treaded cautiously around the pregnant Aussie lady, thinking of her as that and only that. Something fragile, something that needed to be taken care of physically, just 'the pregnant girl'. But Charlie- Charlie had helped her keep her sanity through all the trauma- the crash, the island, the pregnancy, Thomas as well, even though she told herself she was over him. Charlie cheered her up, made her laugh, made her feel special and loved. She would never forget when he brought her the empty jar full of imaginary peanut butter- quite possibly the kindest thing anyone had ever done for her. She still had that jar in her bag, and occasionally, she took it out, and had a big, sweet, gooey fingerful.

More than once, she fell asleep, and dreamed of Charlie's eyes, those eyes that were like grey pools. One felt as though you could get lost in those eyes. Sometimes it seemed like Charlie himself was lost in them. His drugs, she knew now. How brave he had been to tell her like that, and in classic Charlie style as well, she thought to herself, grinning vaguely, the thoughts of Charlie numbing the racking pains in her stomach.

Suddenly, a panicked shout came from through the trees.

"Claire!"

Speak of the devil, she thought. Charlie

"I'm over here!"

He ran over to her, practically tripping over his own feet in his eagerness. He was red in the face, his hair sticking to his forehead, sweat dripping down his chin as he looked wildly around.

"Claire! You alright?"

"Yeah." She said, but as Charlie looked at her dubiously, she relented. "Well, as well as can be expected. Where's Jack?"

"He's coming- I sent Ethan after him."

Claire nodded tightly. Charlie's brow furrowed.

"Claire…?"

The unspoken question hung in the air as he knelt down beside the pregnant girl. Biting back another hiss of pain, Claire's hand groped out blindly, and Charlie grabbed it.

His hands were cool; large and capable, covered with calluses from playing in that band of his. His fingers deftly twined in Claire's, squeezing ever so slightly, as if saying _it's fine, it's all gonna be cool, I'll take care of you. _Claire squeezed back, not noticing though the haze of pain that Charlie's breath stopped momentarily.

Charlie, on the other hand, noticed very much. Claire's trembling hands were hot and sweaty, her slender fingers clutching at his, nails digging into his flesh. He hoped, somewhere deep within the recesses of his mind, that they left marks.

Claire clung to Charlie's hand like a lifeline, eyes squeezed shut. As she thought about it, she realized that this was more than Thomas had ever done for her. He had never been good at comforting, becoming nervous and unsure whenever she was upset. She had always had to go to her girlfriends for reassurance and consolation when she needed it. She hadn't known, she realized, how much her old life had been lacking, what she'd been missing. But that was ridiculous, she thought, surely she didn't prefer being stuck on some island in the middle of nowhere to her comfortable life in Sydney. But she did, really. Here she had Charlie. Here she had someone who loved her. But you don't know he loves you, she told herself stubbornly, you don't- you thought Thomas loved you. And as hard as she tried to listen to that skeptic in the back of her mind, she couldn't.

With a start, she realized she was no longer in pain.

"I- I think it's over."

Charlie turned absurdly hopeful eyes on her.

"Really?"

How charming that Manchurian accent of his was, she thought.

"Yeah."

"Great! I toldja I'd take care of you, didn't I?"

"My knight in shining armor."

Charlie's boyish grin faded slightly, but she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, winking.

"I was serious, Charlie."

He blushed bright red.


End file.
